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Carnival Liberty suffers engine room fire while docked in St. Thomas

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 07 September 2015 07 September 2015

Carnival Cruise Line has issued a statement on Monday's engine room fire on the Carnival Liberty:

"Earlier today, while the Carnival Liberty was docked in St. Thomas, there was a fire in the ship's engine room. There were no reported injuries to guests or crew. The fire has been extinguished by the ship's automated suppression system and crew have confirmed the fire is out. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

All guests are safely ashore in St. Thomas where Carnival personnel have been providing refreshments and updates. At this time, we are offering guests the opportunity to relax in a reception area of a nearby hotel while we await for the ship to receive clearance from the authorities.

We apologize to our guests for the inconvenience and we look forward to welcoming them back onboard later this evening. The ship is expected to sail no earlier than 8:00 PM.

Updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.

Carnival Liberty is on the second day of a 7-night Caribbean cruise that departed San Juan yesterday."

New delivery schedule for AIDAprima

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 03 September 2015 03 September 2015

Earlier last month Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) announced a delay in delivery of its first large-sized next-generation cruise ship to AIDA Cruises currently under construction at the company's Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Nagasaki, which had been scheduled for delivery in September. Now MHI has agreed with AIDA Cruises to set December as the new handover schedule of the first ship. The new schedule was decided working closely with AIDA Cruises to ensure delivery of a first-class passenger ship of the very highest levels of quality, comfort and entertainment.

MHI is constructing two new-generation cruise ships for AIDA Cruises, bringing together its full complement of shipbuilding technologies accumulated to date.

Going forward the company will continue its marketing activities to attract orders for large-size ships equipped with leading-edge technologies to reduce fuel consumption, ease environmental impact, and provide the highest levels of comfort and entertainment features.

Baleària to build Spain’s first LNG-powered passenger ferries

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 03 September 2015 03 September 2015

Alan Lam reporting

Baleària, the Spanish ferry operator, has just announced that it has signed a letter of intend with LaNaval, the Spanish shipbuilder, to build two LNG-powered ferries. They aim to sign the final contract within two months.

Baleària is investing €350 million in this project. The ships will be the first LNG ro-pax units built in Spain. Moreover, with 225 metres long and 30.4 metres wide, they will be among the biggest ferries operating in Europe and the biggest passenger vessels ever built a Spanish shipyard.

The construction will begin next year and the first delivery is expected in 2018.

The ships will in fact be dual fuelled – LNG and diesel. They will help the company achieving a 30% reduction in over all CO2 emissions from its fleet.

“This investment in new ships demonstrates our strength to grow and become more competitive,” said Adolfo Utor, President of Baleària. “These will be very innovative and technologically advanced ships, not only in terms of their propulsion systems, but also enable us to be more eco-friendly and offering better services.”

José Ignacio Irasuegui, MD of LaNaval, said: “This agreement marks a new milestone for LaNaval. We have secured a new major client in the form of Baleària, with whom we hope to establish a long and fruitful relationship in the passenger shipping market by designing and constructing ships with high tech contents.”

Baleària has been in partnership with Rolls Royce in developing marine LNG engines. LaNaval has just launched a modern ro-pax unit for TESO, the Dutch ferry company.

MSC Cruises enters China partnership, to homeport MSC Lirica in Shanghai from May 2016

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 02 September 2015 02 September 2015

MSC Cruises, the world’s fourth largest cruise shipping group, says it has teamed up with a Chinese company to operate MSC Lirica from Shanghai, starting next May.

The Geneva baased cruise line and CAISSA Touristic Group, China's leading outbound tourism service provider, have entered into a strategic partnership. “As part of the agreement, from May 2016, MSC Lirica will homeport in Shanghai to serve the Chinese home market,” MSC Cruises said in a statement.

The ship will undergo a major refit and it will also be lengthened. This will raise its gross tonnage to 65,600 from the current figure of  59,058 and its length will increase to 274.4 metres from 251.2. The work will be completed in nOvember 2015, MSC Cruises said on its website

“The strategic cooperation agreement between the two companies will be the longest-running and financially most significant between a cruise line and a tour operator in the history of cruising in China,” MSC Cruises said in the statement.

CAISSA Touristic’s President Chen Xiaobing emphasised the popularity of MSC Cruises’ European and South American routes with travellers from around the world and that it had recently been named number one cruise line in Europe.

Chen Xiaobing added: “MSC Cruises’ distinctive European flavour resonates well with Caissa Touristic’s brand spirit, as it also originates from Europe. This partnership standouts from other traditional agreements between China-based tour agencies and cruise lines by the emphasis that will be placed on the training of the entire on-board staff to ensure that guests receive MSC Cruises’ best-in-class experience and service as well as the degree of the adaptation of the ship’s hardware and software (like facilities renovation, service design and operation, on-board commodities and more) to fit the customs and tastes of the Chinese guests that it is designed to serve.”

“We are convinced that the newly-renovated MSC Lirica will bring exciting new holiday-making choices to Chinese guests and are looking forward to welcoming numerous would-be cruisers aboard, at a time when the cruise market in the country for this particular type of product is thriving,” concluded Chen Xiaobing.

Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises’ Chief Executive Officer, commented: “MSC Cruises has been present in China since 2010, successfully bringing Chinese guests to cruise on its ultra-modern fleet to its many global destinations and, especially, to Europe and the Mediterranean, where our distinctive product made us the number one cruise line across the entire Continent. We are now delighted and excited that through this partnership we are taking our presence in China to the next level. Thus, with CAISSA Touristic we will partner to bring our unique MSC Cruises’ experience directly to Chinese consumers.”

Onorato continued: “The soon-to-be completely renovated MSC Lirica, as part of MSC Cruises’ ground-breaking Renaissance programme, will feature many distinctive traits – including some industry firsts in service - especially designed for the cruising enjoyment of Chinese consumers. This will make it a much sought-after choice for cruises in the region.”

MSC Lirica is scheduled to reach her new homeport of Shanghai on 1 May 2016, after a 60-day grand voyage from Rio de Janeiro via Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa and Dubai that was announced recently.